lead me to the rock that is higher than i

Basho Cafe

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The Restaurant

Wow Basho, I’m so glad we finally met. Today, Tray & I had a day off from school, so we decided to finally head over to Basho Cafe. With hours from 9:00-4:00pm from Monday to Friday, it was difficult finding a time to come here. They were also on vacation for a while, and re-opened recently this week. However, the new hours are now Tuesday to Saturday (YAY!) so Basho my friend, we’ll definitely meet again.

“This place is so cute” was my mantra for the day but no kidding, this place is ridiculously adorable. The decors, setup and everything here were all super delicate and Japanesey, giving off a warm, homey vibe. (Especially being a family owned business.)

I would advise you to come here early because it’s a small restaurant, and arriving a bit past 11:30pm, there weren’t many seats left. By noon, there was a huge line up and you don’t stand a chance on sitting. (“Stand a chance on sitting” ahahaha get it? Kay, why am I laughing over this..)

Only this awkward lonely spot in the back was left after us..

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The Food

We’ve been dying to come here so we pretty much had what we want set in mind.

Their food menu is very limited. There are three meals to choose from- Tuna Tataki, Teri Pulled Pork,and Basho Veggie, and for all of them you have the option of either getting a salad or a rice bowl. If you add $3, you can get it as a lunch set, which comes with tea, sweets, and soup. You can also add on a drink for a dollar less with the food. There’s the daily soup, a morning set (until 11am), afternoon tea set (after 2pm) as well, along with a variety of drinks and of course, tons of totemo kawaii, bite-sized treats, all priced from $0.50-$2.00!

Can I just bring this entire case of sweets home?

Matcha Latte ($3,75, $2.75 with lunch set): “Their Matcha Latte is the best I ever had and probably the best I will ever have” quote Naomi. Well.. maybe this raised my expectations, as I was a little disappointed. To me, the latte was overly milky, and absent of the matcha flavour. I appreciated the little moustache on the top, but at the same time, it made the first few sips very powdery, with the rest of the drink being relatively plain.Tray finished it off, describing it as “matcha milk” in the end LOL. (3/5)

Tray and I opted for two lunch sets. First, was the Tuna Tataki Salad ($13.50): which had a generous 8 slices of tuna tataki atop a bed of tossed romaine lettuce, celery, and picked vegetables. The vinaigrette dressing here was light and refreshing, but we both found the salad to be a bit too damp, so perhaps a little less would’ve been better. The tuna itself was done nicely. Now, neither of us had tuna tataki before so we didn’t know what to expect.. turns out we loved how these taste! The soft, tender sashimi texture, and a chewier, flakey outside rim, mmm! It came with dabs of a green onion and ginger mixture, which added a hint of spice. On the side were some steamed cauliflower, broccoli and string beans with a sweet and flavourful sesame paste that Tray was fond of. (4/5)

Next, we had the Basho Veggie Rice Bowl ($11.50). This was accompanied by a side salad oflettuce and pepitas, but the dressing here was extremely salty and we preferred the one used in the Tuna Tataki salad. The bowl came with sushi rice which had that perfect, sticky texture, although slightly too vinegary for me. There was a colourful assortment of vegetables –caramelized onions, yam and carrot sticks, pickled carrots and radish, celery, zucchinis, broccoli, cauliflower, slices of cucumbers, avocados, and a kabocha mash. The mash had a coat of their homemade tofu mayo, and hmm.. we weren’t fans of it. It didn’t have much of a flavour and I enjoyed the mash on its own. 😛 Oh, and there was some of that sesame paste again. (4/5)

As I mentioned, the lunch sets come with tea, mini sweets, and a soup. The tea was probably green tea.. it was very diluted and Tray thought it tasted like water haha. The soup of the day was a Kabocha Soup, which was very sweet and pumpkiny. (4/5) We were hoping that with two lunch sets, we would get different desserts. Unfortunately, they were being fair and gave us both the same ones. xD The ones we got to try were the Cocoa Almond Cookies, Lemon Madeleine Mochi (this wasn’t in their display so I kinda made up the name, shh), and Mochi Mochi Matcha. I was pleased with the cocoa cookie, and this means a lot coming from someone who doesn’t fancy chocolate. (4/5) The lemon madeleine mochi had a zesty coating of sugar icing, and an interesting moist, cakey but chewy inside. We found the aftertaste way too sweet though.. (3.5/5) The mochi mochi matcha was hands down my favourite of the three, it was so full of matcha flavour and it’s to simply put it, it’s a mochi disguised as a cupcake. (4.5/5).

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Final Thoughts

We had a comfortable, satisfying meal here! The food wasn’t mindblowing or anything but it was decent, and I’ll be back in no time for more sweets. I’m very picky when it comes to desserts but for the most part, I find that the ones here aren’t overwhelmingly sweet (except the madeleine thingy). I’ve got my eyes on all the other matcha goodies hehe (If you know me, you know I love green tea and geez, I wanted that matcha cheesecake so bad, it was today’s eat-in special.. we were so full already though.) Service wise, you basically go in, order your food, (or have your acquaintance steal a seat first), and they bring out your food once it’s prepared. Afterwards, you just clear off your table like the kind, responsible customer you are. :3 So, is Basho worth the hype? It’s a yes for me. Plus, the cuteness really melts your heart the moment you step in. (It certainly did for me.)